Sunday, October 28, 2007
Do not buy a Dodge Durango
I am not a whiny consumer. As an executive of a manufacturing company, I have enormous sympathy for the people who design and make things. However, we have never had as terrible a vehicle as our 2004 Dodge Durango. I am fairly sure that we will not buy another Chrysler product ever again, or at least until the memory and pain of this travesty has faded.
Now, we do not use the Durango very much. Mrs. TH uses it primarily to pull a horse trailer a couple of times a week, perhaps 30 weeks a year, and we use it for long car trips when we have both dogs and lots of luggage. We drive it less than 10,000 miles per year. Still, it has been one expensive mess after another.
With only 8,000 miles on it, the differential fell apart. We were not off-road, nor had the vehicle ever gone off-road. We were not towing any load at the time. Mrs. TH was driving down Terhune Road in Princeton. Clunk. Busted differential. And it took the Dodge dealer two weeks and two attempts to fix it properly.
Then, about two years ago, the electrical system began going screwy. Various things stopped working, and eventually the entire dashboard went dark. After four separate trips to the dealer we replaced the entire dashboard and electrical system in the front of the car at a cost of several thousand dollars. No, Dodge does not stand behind an electrical system in 22 month-old vehicle -- if something happens to it, you pay.
Well, that has happened again. We began to have problems starting the car, and the battery would not hold a charge. We replaced the battery last weekend. No matter. The truck has now gone completely dark again.
There is no way that we are paying again to fix the electrical system in this car, because we have no confidence that there is not a fundamental design problem. We have decided we are done with this Durango, and we are done with Dodge. This is a shame, because we have always owned at least one American car and liked our first Durango, a 2000 model year that we bought with 9,000 miles on it. We will buy something else, and trade this worthless hunk of metal and plastic for whatever we can get for it. I just hope that none of my fine readers are silly enough to buy it.
MORE: A reader emails:
Sadly, I have reached basically the same conclusion. There was no bigger fan of Chrysler products than me. But once you go Japanese, it is very difficult to go back.
The conclusion I have reached is that when you buy "American" now (and all cars are American in one way or the other at this point), all you are really doing is supporting the UAW. And having spent more than my share of time with the UAW, there is nothing I would rather not do.
There's a lot of truth in that.
16 Comments:
By 
SR, at
Sun Oct 28, 12:15:00 PM:
I think honda and Toyota make pretty good trucks.
Probably made in America too.
By 
, at
Sun Oct 28, 04:14:00 PM:
I have owned 2 new Chevy Suburbans through the years. I replaced transmissions in both with less than 75,000 miles. No towing and replaced fluids. My 3rd, a Chevy sport Tahoe needed a rear differental replaced under warranty at 30,000 miles, a transmission at 72,000, a 2nd transmission at 92,000 and needed a third shortly thereafter, plus an incredible array of other expensive problems. I too wanted to buy American, even though my other vehicles were Lexus and Mercedes. I did try. The last Tahoe was traded for a base Hyundai Sonata, new for $13,888 with a 10 year 100,000 mile warranty. A very nice and remarkable car for the money.
Suburbans now get to $50,000 quickly, before maintennance costs kick in. What might the cost be if the dollar was doing "better"?
At least as sr stated, Hyundai builds in Alabama, and Toyota has plants here as well. And what is wrong with American cars? As pointed out, unions. Pure and simple. Get as many handouts as possible, and shoot yourself in the foot while doing so. But vote Democrat to keep the dole going!
By Simon Kenton, at
Sun Oct 28, 06:32:00 PM:
Just did the 250,000-mile service and tire rotation on my Nissan Pathfinder. Original engine, transmission, differentials, x-fer case, and clutch (!). Showing some rust but that's about it. I am sympathetic to the buy-American argument, but I live too close to the line to be able to throw a car away after 22 months. Thanks for the warning.
By , at
Sun Oct 28, 08:06:00 PM:
I can only tell you that my 1994 Ford Explorer (2WD) is about to roll over 250,000 on the original transmission. I bought it in 1995 with 10,000 miles on it.
Touch wood, I basically only have changed the oil religiously every 2500 miles. There have been several repairs, but nothing major.
andrewdb
By , at
Sun Oct 28, 09:55:00 PM:
Dodge Boys how much do I hate you, let me count the ways:
1. Replace transmission in 1999 Dodge truck twice in one year.
2. Replace rear end in said Dodge Truck, the next year.
3. Air Conditioner stopped working.
4. Power steering box had to be replace.
5. Sold said truck for $5,000 less than I gave for in it in only 3 years. Even though it had a new transmission and rebuilt rear end etc. etc. etc.
By , at
Sun Oct 28, 11:04:00 PM:
I purchased a Plymouth Voyager in 1988 so that we could haul around our two young kids and their many accesories. Driving from upstate NY while serving in the USAF to visit family on Long Island, my transmission stopped working on the Cross Island Parkway with < 3,000 miles on it. I'll spare you the details of 2 kids and a transmission in diapers on a Friday night on the Cross Island. We had to leave substandard product on Long island for 1 month, YES, one month before Chrylser figured out how to fix it. No compensation from Chrysler, not even the rental car. Toyota and Honda have and will continue to ring up a lifetime of sales with us.
By , at
Sun Oct 28, 11:13:00 PM:
Consumer reports does not have the 2004 Dodge Durango on their "used cars to avoid" list. You probably got a lemon. It's not really fair to malign the entire Chrysler product line because you got a lemon. That being said, based on what you said it sounds like Chrysler treated you shabbily.
By TigerHawk, at
Sun Oct 28, 11:19:00 PM:
First, nobody ever talks about "lemon" BMWs or "lemon" Toyotas. A car's status as a lemon is a reason to malign the entire product line. That's what brand equity is all about.
Second, I did not even get in to the shabby treatment Mrs. TH got from the service guys at the local Dodge dealer. Truly unbelievable (especially since she had a job working on cars in a garage back in high school). But you never want to say anything bad about a New Jersey car dealer -- they know where you live.
By , at
Mon Oct 29, 12:29:00 AM:
Stick to a SUV and i have seen some of those hybrids around where i live here
By Jim in Virginia, at
Mon Oct 29, 06:25:00 AM:
FWIW, we've got a 98 Dodge Grand Caravan, my wife's primary vehicle. Not a spot of trouble with it.
We had a Honda Accord which we loved but had $eriou$ engine problems less than a year after the warranty was out. Honda was unsympathetic.
By Fausta, at
Mon Oct 29, 08:57:00 AM:
The Husband and I are very pleased with our Toyota Sienna minivan (made in Kentucky, I believe), and the Volvo 4wd station wagon.
My last American car was a Taurus, which was not a total lemon, but soured me on Ford for a long time.
By , at
Mon Oct 29, 09:06:00 AM:
I've noticed that the dealers often don't know what exactly is wrong with your vehicle, and tend just to throw parts at a problem until the customer stops bothering them. This is especially true while a vehicle is under warranty, but they are not above pulling fast ones on paying customers. Women especially seem to get the run around from condesending techs and service writers.
By , at
Mon Oct 29, 10:32:00 AM:
We have a 2002 Durango with 105,000 miles on it. This is our second Durango, and we have (knock wood!) had a great experience with both. We didn't like the new, larger version when it came out (2003 or 2004?), and we are keeping this one until the inevitable big ticket item comes along.
We have two American cars (also a 2004 Ford Focus that the college and HS aged kids can drive). The Focus is a good car too, but I have to admit, even as a nnative Michigander, I LOVE my little Lexus.
TIGOBLUE
By TigerHawk, at
Mon Oct 29, 10:35:00 AM:
We also had very good experience with our 2000 Durango, which is why we bought the (larger) 2004. Big mistake.
By , at
Wed Oct 31, 05:06:00 PM:
Bitch, bitch, bitch! You fail to see the positive. When you do, you will realize how petty your complaining is.
Your USA car/truck was built by members of the UAW who pay very high union dues. Dues that go almost exclusively to help elect democrats.
The important thing is electing those lefties, not the marginal efficiency or your damn truck!
By , at
Mon Dec 14, 04:28:00 PM:
Do NOT buy a Dodge Caliber
Disheartened Dodge Owner
I just got off the phone with Courtney, a senior in customer service, regarding the [B]clutch going out of my Caliber at only 36,000 miles[/B].
To be clear, yes, it’s certainly too bad that they won’t cover the repair of my clutch.
But my main issue is the lack of concern on their part. Even without it being under warranty, I would think a clutch going out so early would be a red flag for Dodge. But no, they were simply dismissive.
I’d just talked my wife into getting the Nitro. My family and I have been Dodge owners for many, many generations (back into the 60s), and never have we had any issues – until now.
Set the clutch reimbursement cost aside, I simply wanted my concerns addressed to the overall lack of quality for workmanship.
There was none. All I could out of them was that it’s past the warranty, and not their issue.
Fine, but, whoever heard of a clutch going out so early? Certainly not me!
Courtney’s only response was only that she’s known of some going out at 5,000 miles.
That doesn’t make me feel any better. In fact, only points out that clearly, Dodge is not making the quality of cars that they were once known for.
In fact, further investigation has uncovered that the Caliber often has transmission issues at 50,000 miles.
So sadly, once I get the clutch fixed, I will likely have to part w/my Caliber, for fear that I’ll be throwing good money after bad otherwise.
Moreover, this will inevitably be the end to a long family tradition of my family being Dodge owners; too bad, for I loved the Caliber, just simply not the mechanics of it.
As an FYI, at 36,000 miles, I’ve already had two other issues with the car. Both times I assumed they were isolated. But now w/the clutch going out, clearly, they were not.
And so I will part with my Caliber and begin a new era – truth be told, it’ll probably be over to Toyota or Honda. One can’t argue their numbers with regards to satisfaction.
